Slot diffuser



W. L. BATCHELOR May 25, 1965 SLOT DIFFUSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.8, 1961 FIG 70 F/GI/O l/VI/E/VTOR 78 WILLIAM L BATCHELOR /wwy' filWM IIw/ 14 7 ATTORNEYS May 25, 1965 w. L. BATCHELOR SLOT DIFFUSER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 8, 1961 Fla/3 l/VVE/VTUR WILLIAM L BATCHELORUnited States Patent 3,135,667 SLOT DH FUESER William L. ilatchelor,Newington, onn., assignor to Allied Thermal Corporation, New Britain,Conn, a

corporation of (Ionnecticut Filed Sept. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 136,945 ilClaims. (Cl. 98-49) This invention relates generally to air diffusersand more particularly to air diffusers of the type herein referred to asslot diffusers for the reason that the air outlets are in the form ofelongated slot openings.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved slotdiffuser that is adaptable for being installed within a ceiling or thelike with its outside face flush with the surface of the ceiling andwhich is thereby particularly useful in building constructions wheresuch installations are desirable in order to modernize the appearance ofthe ceiling and to facilitate the positioning of removable partitions orwalls within the building.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved slotdifiuser which, though mounted flush within a ceiling or the like canemit the air along the ceiling efliciently and without creatingturbulence directly below the diffuser outlet.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved slotdiffuser which uses a unique configuration of parts to eflicientlydilfuse air into a pattern that can be conveniently controlled within arange of approximately ninety degrees.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved slotdiffuser that has a simple arrangement of parts and which can beeconomically constructed without diminishing its utility or efllciency.

It is another object of this invention to provide a slot diffuser thatis useful for a number of applications, as for example, in associationwith a conventional troffer light for diffusing air from along thelateral edges thereof or in association with a noise generator adaptedto raise the background noise level within a room for increasing thecomfort of the persons therein.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

This invention accordingly consists in the, features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial transverse section view of an embodiment of a slotdiffuser of this invention mounted flush within a ceiling panel;

FIGS. 2 through 6 are partial transverse section views of furtherembodiments of a slot diffuser of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial transverse elevation section view of a modifiedembodiment of a slot diffuser of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a transverse elevation section view of an assembly of atroifer light and another modified embodiment of a slot diffuser of thisinvention;

FIG. 9 is an enlargement of a portion of the view of the diffuser andtrotfer light assembly of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a reduced perspective view partly broken away of the diffuserand trailer li ht assembly of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary section view taken substantially along the linell1l of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view partly broken away and partly in sectionof a further modified embodiment of a slot diffuser of this invention;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary side elevation view partly broken away andpartly in section of the slot diffuser of FIG. 12; and

ddidfi? Patented May 25, 1%65 ice FIG. 14 is a cross section view of theslot diffuser taken substantially along the line 1414 of FIG. 13.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 a slotdiffuser having a housing, preferably made of sheet metal, comprising apair of side walls 1 and 2 which are relatively long and preferablyparallel and which are connected at their ends by a pair of relativelyshort end walls (not shown). The side walls 1 and 2 are provided withinwardly turned lower edges 5 and 6, respectively, which for conveniencewill be referred to hereinafter as the lip 5 and flange 6. The lip 5 andflange 6 are coplanar and perpendicular to the side walls 1 and 2 andhave inner parallel edges that define a slot opening or diffuser outlet10 having a lateral width designated SW. The slot opening may have alength appropriate to the diffuser capacity desired and preferably, thehousing is mounted so that the outer surface of the lip 5 and the flange6 lie flush with an associated surface, as for ex ample, a ceiling panel7.

For controlling the air flow passing through the housing passage fromits inlet and emitted at its outlet opening 10, there is provided anelongated air deflector plate 12 which in this embodiment is secured tothe wall 2 and preferably extends the full length of the housing betweenthe end walls but is of lesser width than the housing to space itselongated edge designated De, hereinafter referred to as the deflectoredge, from the side wall 1 so that all the air passing through thehousing and emitted from the slot opening 10 must pass therearound. Thedeflector edge De is located a lateral distance designated Dw(hereinafter called the deflector width) from the side wall 2 and avertical distance designated Dh (hereinafter called the deflectorheight) from the slot opening 10. The deflector edge De acts to formwith the side wall 1 a restricted passage which displaces the movementof the air within the housing to the right as viewed in the drawings.However, inasmuch as the lip 5 projects from the side wall 1 a distancedesginated Lw (hereinafter termed the lip width) beneath this restrictedpassage, the lip 5 acts to return the air movement to the left as viewedin the drawings, the degree of such leftward movement being determinedby the position of an edge designated Le (hereinafter termed the lipedge) located at the terminus of the lip and the width Sw of the slotopening 10. Additionally, the lip edge Le defines with the deflectoredge De a second restricted passage having a restriction widthdesignated Rw.

It has been found that when the type of slot diffuser described has aconfiguration conforming to certain relationships, the air emitted fromthe slot opening 10 follows a flow pattern that is parallel to the slotopening 10 and which extends outwardly from the slot opening under andin contiguous relation with the flange 6 and ceiling panel 7.Consequently even though the slot diffuser is narrow in width, with thedimension between the side walls 1 and 2 being of the order of twoinches, and even though the diffuser side walls 1 and 2 be mountedperpendicular to the opening it and the ceiling panel 7, a highlyeflicient air flow pattern that is parallel to the ceiling panel 7 andin which there is substantially laminar flow can be obtained.

To simplify the explanation of the relationships which enable this airflow pattern to be obtained, the lateral distance between the deflectoredge De and the lip edge Le, i.e., the component of the restrictionwidth Rw that is parallel to the plane of the outlet opening 10, istermed the see-through Width and designated Rs. It should be noted thatthough the see-through width Rs could be a negative valve, i.e., byhaving the deflector plate 12 laterally overlap the lip 5, suchoverlapping is undesirable as it reduces the efficiency of the air flowwithin the diffuser housing.

3 The necessary relationships for achieving the highly eflicient laminarflow described are as follows:

(a) Deflector width Dw must be equal to or greater than the see-throughwidth Rs (DwRs).

(b) See-through width Rs must be less than onehalf lip width Lw Slotwidth Sw must be equal to or greater than the height Dir of thedeflector edge De (S w EDh).

(d) Deflector height Dh has a minimum dimension equal to one-third lipwidth Lw and a maximum dimension equal to three times the lip width LWidhi am) (e) Lip width Lw must be equal to or greater than therestriction width Rs (LwRw).

These relationships remain valid even though different deflector plateconfigurations are used for forming the deflector edge De. Severalexamples of deflectors that have been found successful are shown inFIGS. 2 through 6 and, like the deflector plate 12, may be fixed to thewall 2 for defining a deflector edge De which is spaced from the sidewall 1 and around which the air flowing through the housing must pass.In these examples, the deflector edge De is formed by a downwardlyinclined plate 20 as shown in FIG. 2 by an upwardly inclined plate 22 asshown in FIG. 3 or by a deflector 21 which combines two plates as shownin FIGS. 4 through 6. The inclination of the plate to the plane of theslot opening 16 is designated by the angle a. This angle of inclinationa, it has been found, must be 45 or less when the outlet air velocity,as conventionally found in air diffusers of the type to which thisinvention is directed, is within the range of 400 to 2,000 feet perminute in order to provide the desired flow pattern. The thickness ofthe lip 5 and the flange 6 does not materially influence the exit flowpattern as long as this thickness is equal to or less than one-quarterof an inch for slot diffusers having a width of approximately two inchesor less. A lip or flange having a greater thickness may, however, beused by sharpening or charnfering the edges defining the slot 10,thereby avoiding a downward funneling of the air as it passes throughthe slot opening lit).

While the foregoing relationships specify maximum dimensional limits,the relationship between the dimensions are varied within the limitsspecified to obtain the specific characteristics desired for eachinstallation. For example, it has been found that a diffuser withmaximum efficiency, i.e., maximum volumetric flow for a given diffuserwidth and air pressure differential, is usually obtained by having amaximum see-through width Rs. Therefore, by applying the relationships(a) and (b) above, a diffuser having maximum efliciency would beobtained by having the lip width Lw substantially equal to but slightlygreater than one-half the distance between the side walls 1 and 2 andhave the deflector width Dw and see-through width Rs be substantiallyequal and therefore, substantially equal to but slightly less thanonefourth the distance between the side walls 1 and 2.

A transverse section of another embodiment of a slot diffuserincorporating the relationships of this invention heretofore describedis shown in FIG. 7. The diffuser housing generally designated by thenumeral 26, has a pair of parallel, relatively long, side walls 28, 30,preferably made of sheet metal that are connected at their ends by apair of relatively short end walls (not shown) and which have theirlower ends inturned to provide the laterally extending diffuser lip 32and flange 34 which define and are coplanar with the elongated slotopening 35. Pivotally mounted adjacent the side wall 30 upon anelongated axis 36 is an air controller 38 having an air deflectorportion 49 of the type represented generally in FIG. 3 and a stopportion 42 that is adapted to engage the side wall 30 when the deflectorportion 40 is positioned for providing an air flow pattern that isparallel to and adjacent the flange 34-. As the deflector portion 40 ispivotally supported, it may be manually adjusted to any position betweenand including the position shown and a position covering the slotopening 35.

In FIGS. 8 through 11 there is shown a troifer light 56 having a pair ofopposed elongated side walls 66 and upon which is assembled anembodiment 52 of an air diffuser of this invention. The air diffuser 52is bifurcated or yoke-shaped and comprises a plenum chamber housing 53having a conventional air inlet 49 and air damper 51 and further havinga pair of air conduits extending downwardly from the housing adjacentthe troifer light side walls 66. The housing 53 is centrally positionedabove the trotfer light 50, and the air conduits 55 have inner conduithousing portions 56 that are spaced from the troffer light housing sideWalls 66 to provide passages 53 which act as insulating chambers betweenthe air conduits 5:3 and the troffer light housing and thereby preventan undesirable heating or cooling of the trofier light housing and itsinner light reflective surface by the hot or cold air passing throughthe diffuser conduits. Preferably the air diffuser conduits 55 areconstructed separately from the troffer light 56 and are adapted to befixed thereto by spot welding or otherwise securing the flanges 5dinturned from the outer conduit housing portions 60 upon the top wall 62of the troffer light housing and by spot welding or otherwise securingthe lower ends 64 and 65 (FIG. 9) of the inner and outer conduit housingportions 56 and 60 respectively, to the lower end of the trolfer lighthousing side walls 66. The plenum chamber housing 53 is convenientlysecured to the conduits 55 as by bolts (not shown) or other well-knownmeans. The conduits 55 are enclosed by the end walls 68 (FIG. 9)inturned from the outer housing portions 60 and are constructed todiverge longitudinally from the plenum chamher so as to distribute theair passing therefrom through the elongated slots 57 in the inturnedflanges 54 to a series of elongated slots 74 located in a lateralportion of the housing side walls 66 between the conduit ends 64 and 65.

As best seen in FIG. 9, the lower ends of the trolfer light housing sidewalls 66 are formed to define a pair of opposed elongated recesses inwhich there is located the lateral edges 72 of a trolfer coversubassembly that are formed from a piece of sheet metal 76 to definediffuser outlet housings having elongated inner and outer side walls 61and 63. The sheet metal 76 has therein elongated slots 75 aligned withthe slots 74 in the trotfer housing side Walls so as to convey air fromthe conduits 55 to elongated slots or outlet openings 82 defined byinner and outer elongated edges and which are made by piercing the sheetmetal 76 for additionally forming a series of longitudinally spaceddeflectors 78 of the type generally shown in FIG. 3 and which arepositioned in accordance with the relationships heretofore described.Alternatively, the. desirable lateral air flow from the elongated slots82 could be obtained without forming the inturned deflectors 78 byappropriately contouring the sheet metal 76 or troffer light housingside wall 66 so that the lateral edge 83 of the elongated slots 74 or 75provides a deflector edge that is positioned in accordance with thoserelationships.

In FIGS. 12 through 14 there is shown a modified t embodiment of an airdiffuser of this invention which slots 104, 106 located below the airchambers formed between the housing side walls 92, 94 and the sheetmetal divider 100. The upper end of the housing preferably is adapted toextend into a main air conduit 91, shown in phantom in FIG. 12, and isprovided with a peripheral channel 93 with a band of rubber 95 insertedtherein to seal the engagement with the main conduit 91 and to reducevibration that might otherwise pass therebetween. A pair of slot lips108, 110 are formed by a central Web 111 in the cover 102 and controlthe emission of air from the elongated slots 104, 106 in conjunctionwith a pair of air deflectors 96, 98 in accordance with the dimensionalrelationships described. The air deflectors are pivotally mounted withinthe housing adjacent the side walls 92, 94 upon a U-shaped wire support113 that has a pair of legs 112, 114 extending through the side wall 116longitudinally within the housing and about which the outer ends of thedeflectors 96, 98 are deformed. For maintaining the deflectors in aselected position, there are provided tabs 99 that extend inwardly ofthe side walls 92, 94 for friction engagement with the deformed ends ofthe deflectors, and for facilitating a pivotal adjustment of thedeflectors there are provided clips 12d of comparatively short length.The deflectors may either be positioned to completely eliminate air flowthrough the slots 1414, 1% or may be positioned (as shown by thedeflector 98 in FIG. 14) to provide a flow pattern that is parallel tothe outlet opening or (as shown by the deflector 96 in FIG. 14) may bepivoted until a deflector stop 107 engages one of the elongated sidewalls, at which position the deflector forms an angle with the plane ofthe slot outlet opening that is greater than 45 so as to provide an airflow pattern that is substantially perpendicular to the cover 192.

Within the difluser housing there is shown installed a noise generator138 that is adapted to provide a minimum background noise level in theroom in which the slot diffuser assembly is mounted so as to lessen theeflect of noises originating outside the room and thereby provide acomfortable acoustical environment with the room. This result is largelydue to the fact that a human is less annoyed by a steady noise to whichhe quickly becomes unconsciously accustomed than by sporadic orintermittent noises as for example those caused by passing vehicles,typing or conversation. The noise generator 130 comprises two parallelsheet metal plates 132 and 134 and a pair of upright partitions 136 and138 extending therebetween, and is spaced from the elongated diffuserside walls 92 and 94 by downwardly extending ribs 140 formed from theside walls and inwardly tapered for supporting the noise generator whichis then retained in position by screws 141. The air from the main airconduit 91 passes around the edges of the plates 132, 134 adjacent theelongated diffuser side walls thereby creating a vibration which isamplified at certain frequencies by the air column in the acousticalchambers 144, such frequencies being dependent upon the lateral positionof the upright partitions 136 and 133.

It can be seen that the diffuser of this invention has unusualversatility and can be used in conjunction with numerous apparatus suchas with a noise generator or with a trofler light, and can be made in alength or in combination of lengths according to the dictates of eachinstallation. Additionally, the difluser of this invention provides asimplified means for emitting air with maximum efiiciency and minimumturbulence in a pattern that is parallel to the diffuser opening, andwhere desired can be constructed with an adjustment for additionallydirecting the air outwardly along a path that is substantiallyperpendicular to the difluser outlet opening.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modificationsand adaptations of the structure above described will become readilyapparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An air diffuser comprising, a housing having one pair of relativelylong generally upstanding closely spaced side walls connected by asecond pair of relatively short end walls and inlet and outlet openingsand forming an elongated narrow air outlet passageway with substantiallydownward air flow, an elongated lip extending laterally inwardly in theplane of the outlet opening from a first of said one pair of side wallsforming an elongated lip edge defining one lateral edge of the outletopening, and an air deflector member pivotally mounted within thehousing about an axis parallel to the lip edge and adjacent a second ofsaid one pair of side walls, said deflector member being movable betweena first position overlapping the outlet opening for preventing air flowtherethrough and a second position, said deflector member forming adeflector edge lying substantially parallel to the lip edge, saiddeflector member when in its second position having its deflector edge adistance from the lip edge which is no greater than the distance betweenthe lip edge and the first side wall, and said deflector member when inits second position further having its deflector edge a distance fromthe outlet opening which is no less than one-third of and no greaterthan three times the distance between the lip edge and the first sidewall, said lip edge and said deflector edge being related with thedeflector in said second position to discharge the air passingdownwardly through the elongated narrow air outlet passageway throughthe outlet opening into a path parallel to the outlet opening.

2. An air diffuser comprising, a housing having a pair of relativelylong generally upstanding side walls connected by a pair of relativelyshort end walls and an inlet opening, means intermediate of the housingside walls forming a pair of parallel elongated edges defining in part apair of parallel elongated outlet openings laterally spaced between saidside walls, a partition within the housing intermediate of the pair ofside walls forming therewith a pair of elongated narrow air outletpassageways with substantially downward air flow adjacent the outletopenings, said outlet openings being parallel to and laterally spaced onopposite sides of said partition, and air deflector members pivotallymounted within the housing adjacent said pair of side walls definingdeflector edges spaced from the partition and movable for varying theair flow through the outlet openings, said deflector members beingmovable to a first position whereat the distance of the deflector edgesfrom the outlet openings is no greater than the lateral width of theoutlet openings, the deflector edges are spaced from the outlet openingsintermediate the lateral edges thereof, and whereat the distance betweenthe deflector edges and the pair of side walls is at least equal to thelateral distance between the deflector edges and the elongated edges,said elongated edges and deflector edges being related with thedeflectors in said first position to discharge the air passingdownwardly through the elongated narrow air outlet passageways throughthe outlet openings in opposite directions into paths parallel to theoutlet openings.

3. The air diffuser of claim 2 wherein the air deflector members aremovable between a second position covering the elongated outlet openingsand said first position, each or" said deflector members in their firstposition forming an angle with the plane of the adjacent outlet openingthat is less than 45.

4. The air difluser of claim 2 in combination with a noise generatorcomprising a pair of vertically spaced plates extending substantiallynormal to the side walls, said plates extending between but spaced fromsaid pair of relatively long side walls for defining air passagestherewith, and upstanding partition means intermediate the side wallsand extending between the pair of vertically spaced plates for defininga pair of acoustical chambers whereby air passing through the diffuserhousing around the pair of spaced plates will create sound waves thatare amplified by the acoustical chambers.

5. For use in combination with a trofler light having an elongatedhousing with a pair of opposed elongated side walls, an air diflusercomprising, a plenum chamber housing having an air inlet and adapted forbeing positioned above the trofler light housing, a pair of air conduitshaving their upper ends connected to the plenum chamber housing andadapted to extend downwardly adjacent the opposing elongated side wallsthereof, housing means including a pair of generally upstanding closelyspaced elongated side walls and forming first and second spacedelongated edges defining elongated outlet openings and upwardly facinginlet openings communicating with the lower ends of the air conduits,and elongated air deflector members within the housing forming deflectoredges spaced inwardly of the elongated outlet openings between the firstand second elongated edges, the distance of the deflector edges from theoutlet openings being no greater than the distance between the first andsecond elongated edges, the first and second spaced elongated edges andthe deflector edges being related to discharge the air passingdownwardly through the air conduits through the outlet openings intopaths parallel to the outlet openings.

6. For use in combination with a trofler light assembly having anelongated housing with a pair of opposed elongated side walls, an airdiffuser comprising, a plenum chamber housing having an air inlet andadapted for being positioned above the troffer light housing, a pair ofair conduits having their upper ends connected to the plenum chamberhousing and extending downwardly therefrom for being positioned adjacentto but at least partially spaced from the opposing elongated side wallsof the trofier light housing, means forming elongated diffuser outlethousings having inner and outer elongated generally upstanding closelyspaced side walls and an upwardly facing inlet opening communicatingwith the lower ends of the air conduits, said conduits diverginglongitudinally from the plenum chamber housing to the elongated outlethousings, means forming inner and outer elongated edges for definingelongated outlet openings for the housings below the side walls thereof,and elongated air deflector members extending from adjacent the outerelongated side walls and forming deflector edges that are parallel toand spaced inwardly of the outlet openings, the lateral distance betweenthe deflector edges and the inner edges being less than one-half thedistance between the inner edges and the inner side walls, the distancebetween the deflector edges and the outlet openings being no greaterthan the distance between the inner and outer edges, and the distancebetween the inner edge and the inner side wall being at least equal tothe distance between the inner edge and the deflector edge, said innerand outer elongated edges andsaid deflector edges being related todischarge the air passing downwardly through the air conduits throughthe outlet openings into path parallel to the outlet openings.

7. An air difluser for use in combination with a ceiling comprising, anelongated housing having an air inlet opening, an air outlet opening,and a pair of elongated upstanding side walls in laterally spacedgenerally parallel relationship intermediate the air inlet opening andair outlet opening forming a downwardly extending narrow air outletpassageway having a height greater than its lateral width for funnelingthe air flow downwardly from the air inlet opening to the air outletopening; said elongated housing being adapted to be mounted within anopening in the ceiling with the air inlet opening above the ceiling,with the air outlet opening substantially in the plane of the ceilingand with the upstanding side walls extending upwardly from the ceiling;an elongated lip extending laterally inwardly from one of said pair ofside walls at the lower end thereof forming an elongated lip edgedefining one lateral edge of the air outlet opening, a flange extendinglaterally inwardly from the other side wall at the lower end'thereofforming an elongated flange edge defining the opposite lateral edge ofthe air outlet opening, said flange and lip being substantiallycoplanar, and air deflector means mounted in said air outlet passagewayto extend from said other side wall and forming a deflector edge havingan operative position spaced from said one side wall and inwardly of theoutlet opening between the flange and lipedges; and whereat thedeflector edge is substantially parallel to the lip edge, whereat thedistance between the lip edge and the one side wall is at least equal tothe distance between the lip edge and the deflector edge, and whereasthe deflector edge, lip edge and flange edge are related to dischargethe air funneled downwardly through the narrow air outlet passagewaythrough the outlet opening into a path parallel to the outlet openingand along the ceiling.

8. An air diffuser for use in combination with a ceiling comprising, anelongated housing having an air inlet opening, an air outlet opening anda pair of elongated upstanding side walls in laterally spaced generallyparallel relationship intermediate the air inlet opening and air outletopening forming a downwardly extending narrow airoutlet passagewayhaving a height greater than its lateral width for funneling the airflow downwardly from the air inlet opening to the air outlet opening;said elongated housing being adapted to be mounted within an opening inthe ceiling with the air inlet opening above the ceiling, with the airoutlet opening substantially in the plane of the ceiling and with theupstanding side walls extending upwardly from the ceiling; an elongatedlip extending laterally inwardly from one of said pair of side walls atthe lower end thereof forming an elongated lip edge defining one lateraledge of the air outlet opening, a second edge defining the oppositelateral edge of the outlet opening, and an air deflector pivotallymounted within the housing forming an air deflector edge; said airdeflector being pivotal to an operative position whereat the deflectoredge is spaced from said one side wall inwardly of the outlet opening,whereat the deflector edge, the second edge, and the lip edge aresubstantially parallel, whereat the lateral dlstance between thedeflector edge and the lip edge is less than one-half the distancebetween the lip edge and said one side wall, whereat the distance of thedeflector edge from the outlet opening is no greater than the distancebetween the lip and second edges, whereat the distance of the deflectoredge from the outlet opening is no less than one-third of and no greaterthan three times the distance between the lip edge and said one sidewall, whereat the distance between the lip edge and the one side wall isat least equal to the distance between the lip edge and the deflectoredge, whereat the distance between the deflector edge and the other ofsaid pair of side walls is at least equal to the lateral distancebetween the defiector edge and the lip edge, and whereat the deflectoredge, the lip edge and the second edge are related to d1scharge the airfunneled downwardly through the narrow air outlet passageway through theoutlet opening into a path parallel to the outlet opening and along theceiling.

9. An air difluser for use in combination with a ceiling comprising, anelongated housing having an air inlet opening, an air outlet opening anda pair of elongated upstandlng side walls in laterally spaced generallyparallel relationship intermediate the air inlet opening and air outletopening forming a downwardly extending narrow air outlet passagewayhaving a height greater than its lateral width for tunneling the airflow downwardly from the air inlet opening to the air outlet opening;said elongated housing being adapted to be mounted within an opening inthe ceiling with the air inlet opening above the ceiling, with the airoutlet opening substantially in the plane of the ceiling and with theupstanding side walls extending upwardly from the ceiling; an elongatedlip extending laterally inwardly from one of said pair of side walls atthe lower end thereof forming an elongated lip edge defining one lateraledge of the air outlet opening, a flange extending laterally inwardlyfrom the other of said pair of side walls at the lower end thereofforming an elongated flange edge defining the opposite lateral edge ofthe outlet opening, said flange and lip being substantially coplanar,and an air deflector pivotally mounted Within the passageway forming anair deflector edge; said air deflector being pivoted to an operativeposition whereat its external surfaces extend from adjacent the secondside wall, whereat its air deflector edge is spaced inwardly of theoutlet opening between the flange and lip edges, whereat the deflectoredge, lip edge and flange edge are parallel, whereat the externalsurfaces of the air deflector form with the plane of the outlet openingan angle of no greater than 45, whereat the lateral distance between thedeflector edge and the lip edge is less than one-half the distancebetween the lip edge and said one of the pair of side walls, and whereatthe deflector edge, lip edge and flange edge are related to dischargethe air funneled downwardly through the narrow air outlet passagewaythrough the outlet opening into a path parallel .to the outlet openingand along the ceiling.

10. An air difluser for use in combination with a ceiling comprising, anelongated housing having an air inlet opening, an air outlet opening anda pair of elongated upstanding side walls in laterally spaced generallyparallel relationship intermediate the air inlet opening and air outletopening forming a downwardly extending narrow air outlet passagewayhaving a height greater than its lateral width for tunneling the airflow downwardly from the air inlet opening to the air outlet opening;said elongated housing being adapted to be mounted within an opening inthe ceiling with the air inlet opening above the ceiling, with the airoutlet opening substantially in the plane of the ceiling and with theupstanding side walls extending upwardly from the ceiling; each of saidpair of side walls having laterally inturned lower ends for defining theoutlet opening, a first of the inturned ends forming a first edgedefining one edge of the outlet opening, a second of said inturned endshaving a first portion substantially coplanar with the first inturnedend and forming a second edge defining the opposite edge of the outletopening, said second inturned end having a second deflector portionextending within the housing from said first portion at an angle of nomore than 45 with the plane of the outlet opening, said deflectorportion forming a deflector edge spaced inwardly of the outlet openingbetween said first and second edges, said first, second and deflectoredges all being parallel; the lateral distance between said first andsecond edges being no less than the distance between the deflector edgeand the plane of the outlet opening, and said first edge, second edgeand deflector edge being related to discharge the air funneleddownwardly through the narrow air outlet passageway through the outletopening into a path parallel to the outlet opening and along theceiling.

11. An air diffuser for use in combination with a ceiling comprising, anelongated housing having an air inlet opening, an air outlet opening, apair of laterally spaced elongated air outlet openings, a pair ofelongated upstanding side walls in laterally spaced generally parallelrelationship intermediate the air inlet opening and the air outletopenings, means intermediate of the housing side walls at the lower endsthereof forming a pair of generally parallel elongated edges defining inpart the pair of elongated air outlet openings, an elongated upstandingpartition within the housing intermediate the outlet openings and thepair of side walls and forming with the side walls a pair of laterallyspaced narrow air outlet passageways each having a height greater thanits lateral width for tunneling the air flow downwardly from the airinlet opening to the air outlet openings, and a pair of air deflectorsextending inwardly from adjacent said pair of side walls respectivelyforming deflector edges having operative positions spaced from saidpartition for causing air flow through the narrow air outlet passagewaysto pass therebetween, and whereat the lateral distance between thedeflector edges and said elongated edges is less than one-half thedistance between the elongated edges and the partition respectively,whereat the distance between the elongated edges and the partition is atleast equal to the distance between the elongated edges and thedeflector edges respectively, and whereat the elongated edges anddeflector edges are related to discharge the air funneled downwardlythrough the elongated narrow air outlet passageways through the paralleloutlet openings in opposite lateral directions into paths parallel tothe outlet openings and along the ceiling.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,656,156 10/53Wilcox 98-40 2,962,582 11/60 Croft 98-40 2,991,708 7/61 Falk 98-403,072,03 8 1 63 Phillips 9840 3,126,811 3/64 Kennedy 9840 FOREIGNPATENTS 882,307 5/43 France.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Examiner,

1. AN AIR DIFFUSER COMPRISING, A HOUSING HAVING ONE PAIR OF RELATIVELYLONG GENERALLY UPSTANDING CLOSELY SPACED SIDE WALLS CONNECTED BY ASECOND PAIR OF RELATIVELY SHORT END WALLS AND INLET AND OUTLET OPENINGSAND FORMING AN ELONGATED NARROW AIR OUTLET PASSAGEWAY WITH SUBSTANTIALLYDOWNWARD AIR FLOW, AN ELONGATED LIP EXTENDING LATERALLY INWARDLY IN THEPLANE OF THE OUTLET OPENING FROM A FIRST OF SAID ONE PAIR OF SIDE WALLSFORMING AN ELONGATED LIP EDGE DEFINING ONE LATERAL EDGE OF THE OUTLETOPENING, AND AN AIR DEFLECTOR MEMBER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED WITHIN THEHOUSING ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE LIP EDGE AND ADJACENT A SECOND OFSAID ONE PAIR OF SIDE WALLS, SAID DEFLECTOR MEMBER BEING MOVABLE BETWEENA FIRST POSITION OVERLAPPING THE OUTLET OPENING FOR PREVENTING AIR FLOWTHERETHROUGH AND A SECOND POSITION, SAID DEFLECTOR MEMBER FORMING ADEFLECTOR EDGE LYING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE LIP EDGE, SAIDDEFLECTOR MEMBER WHEN IN ITS SECOND POSITION HAVING ITS DEFLECTOR EDGE ADISTANCE FROM THE LIP EDGE WHICH IS NO GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEENTHE LIP EDGE AND THE FIRST SIDE WALL, AND SAID DEFLECTOR MEMBER WHEN INITS SECOND POSITION FURTHER HAVING ITS DEFLECTOR EDGE A DISTANCE FROMTHE OUTLET OPENING WHICH IS NO LESS THAN ONE-THIRD OF AND NO GREATERTHAN THREE TIMES THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE LIP EDGE AND THE FIRST SIDEWALL, SAID LIP EDGE AND SAID DEFLECTOR EDGE BEING RELATED WITH THEDEFLECTOR IN SAID SECOND POSITION TO DISCHARGE THE AIR PASSINGDOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE ELONGATED NARROW AIR OUTLET PASSAGEWAY THROUGHTHE OUTLET OPENING INTO A PATH PARALLEL TO THE OUTLET OPENING.